The PS Vita and 3DS get a sequel to cult hit 999; with a Saw style storyline that rivals The Walking Dead for gut-wrenching decisions.

Virtue’s Last Reward (PSV) – we’ve all had days like that

We hope we’re not fooling ourselves when we claim that one of the trends of 2012 is the rise of the non-shooter. We realise that’s a poor name for the phenomenon but describing games like XCOM and Dishonored as ‘thoughtful’ just makes them sound boring. ‘Intelligent’ or ‘cerebral’ sounds condescending, and ‘mature’ implies nudity or violence. The problem is none of these games have anything in common except not treating their audiences like idiots, but a non-idiot game isn’t much of a description either.

Virtue’s Last Reward is a sequel to 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors on the DS, a game that was never released in Europe but because of the ease of importing DS cartridges became a firm import favourite. The two games are actually part of a very specifically named genre, although the visual novel will not be a concept familiar to most Western gamers.

A distance cousin of the old school text adventure, a visual novel is exactly what the name implies. They’re extremely popular in Japan, with many being romance-related or revolve around other staples of anime, sci-fi, horror, and porn. They’re primarily popular on the PC, where the overheads are lower, and the only console-based one most Western gamers are likely to have come across is the Ace Attorney series (which is actually a lot more interactive than purebred visual novels).

Virtue’s Last Reward is structured in a similar way to Phoenix Wright’s adventures, except rather than legal comedy the tone here is Saw-inspired horror. The game begins with a male student called Sigma waking up in a lift with an equally bemused woman. Both have a peculiar watch-like device attached to their wrist and neither has any clue as to why they’re there.

The two are then taunted, Jigsaw style, via a TV screen and told that they have to find an escape code before the lift gives way and falls. This leads to a nerve-wracking puzzle sequence where you must search the lift car for clues from a first person perspective. The logic of the puzzles is sound, in a sort of mix of Crystal Maze and Professor Layton, with a good mix of physical, logic, and numbers-based teasers. There’s also a two-tier reward system where optional archive files, that explain the plot in more detail, are hidden behind a more difficult layer of puzzles.

Once you escape the lift you find you’re trapped in a warehouse with a gaggle of other oddball captives, as your tormentor appears again and makes clear his obsession with trust and betrayal. It’s in these story segments that the game earns its name as a visual novel and there are absolutely reams of text, not all of which is spoken (and when it is only in Japanese – despite the American release having an optional English voice track).

The amount of text isn’t a negative though; even though the script’s occasionally contorted English betrays its Japanese origins. The game’s willingness to take its time with characterisation and scene building is in the end the main attractions. Although many of the anime-looking characters have rather absurd backgrounds they’re portrayed as real people and you quickly begin to think of them as such.

Often the novel sections will have a moral decision to make, and we don’t make the comparison to The Walking Dead lightly when we say that they can often be just as agonising. In fact it’s arguably more impressive that the game makes you care just as much given Virtue’s more distancing sci-fi undertones and lack of English voiceovers.

In terms of both script and gameplay Virtue’s Last Reward is obsessed with game theory (in particular the prisoner’s dilemma ) and taking its concepts to their logical, dehumanising extreme.

As a result the plot is almost unique in gaming in that it’s actually about something more profound than saving the world or rescuing the princess. Its writing and presentation can still seem amateurish compared to top draw novels or cinema, but it’s well above that of most games… and most Hollywood popcorn fodder.

Although the puzzle controls are a bit awkward the rest of the game mechanics are as user friendly as you could hope, with a carefully filed series of hints and archives, a virtual notepad, and the ability to skip back through the game’s flowchart style timeline whenever you want – which is considerably more convenient than having to just replay everything in 999.

Speaking of which, this is a direct sequel and although it’s still a standalone story, if you are able to get hold of the original and play that first it does add to the experience. We hesitate saying that though, as we don’t want to put anyone off what is one of the best story-based games of the year.

In Short:An excellent follow-up to 999, with a thought-provoking plot, compelling characters, and some of the hardest choices this side of The Walking Dead.

Pros:A great story and decent dialogue, that makes the moral choices extremely difficult. Clever puzzles and a well-designed help interface – especially the interactive timeline.

Cons:The puzzle sections can get very obscure and the controls during them are irritatingly fiddly. Japanese-only voiceovers and occasionally awkward dialogue.